ECONOMICS >US gets Turkey-made barracks

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

A Turkish prefabricated buildings company exports highly resistant facilities to global buyers including the US military. The Prekons’ products are used in some dangerous territories in Afghanistan, Sudan and Iraq

The company photos above show some of Prekons’s wide range of products. The prefabricated facilities made by the company were used in Van after a devastating earthquake in October demolished houses there.

Prekons, a Turkish prefabricated building developer, has sold $100 million worth of products to the U.S. military alone since 2009. This equipment is used in such military hotspots as Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq, according to Ekin Çakılcı, a member of Prekons’ executive board.

Prekons’ products resist a range of pressures up to 10 pounds per square inch (psi), a pressure unit equivalent to 1,000 kilograms of TNT explosives, or 4,000 grenades, Çakılcı said. The French and British militaries are also among Prekons’ customers, he said, adding that the company holds a number of security certifications from the United States. Products are protected from penetration from the outside once locked from the inside, and the protection duration varies from 15 minutes to 90 minutes, Çakılcı said.

“Once you lock the door, no one can get in within that period of time, whatever they do. This equipment also has outlets for counterfire. These are bolted outlets that can be closed from inside.” The company claims to have developed nuclear resistant and armor-piercing resistant shelters. It adds communications equipment and alarm systems to the original buildings on demand. Along with shelters, arsenals, watchtowers and checkpoints, Prekons also develops larger buildings such as dormitories and business facilities.

Global oil and gas companies are among the Turkish firm’s customers. “Some explosions can occur at oil and gas facilities due to entrapment,” Çakılcı said. “As our products are designed for difficult conditions, we are meeting the demands of world energy giants such as BP, Shell, Exxon, Chevron and ENI.” The Ankara-based company also runs offices in Dubai and Algeria. It has four production facilities.